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Just two years after the most recent live-screen adaptation of the Joker, Hollywood has already begun raving about the newest actor to portray the iconic supervillain.

The latest actor Joaquin Phoenix has already made a strong impression among superhero fans. Recent footage shows what the character will look like and it has a noticeably distinct iteration when compared to previous Jokers.

The teaser begins with the song “Laughing” by The Guess Who, as the camera focuses on Arthur Fleck, the Joker’s apparent real name. As he stands, he slowly begins building up an evil-looking smile as snippets of a clown begin to overlay with his own. Suddenly, the viewer is introduced to the first look at Fleck in his Joker makeup as his creepy smile cuts to chilling, serious emotion.

Phoenix, who appears to be more of an actual clown than past adaptations, has already created viral buzz about the project and how his portrayal could stand tall to other iconic performances of the character.

From Jack Nicholson’s 1990s beloved campiness to Heath Ledger’s highly-praised grittiness and Jared Leto’s questionable gangster-intended adaptation, Phoenix has serious potential for being one of the best interpretations thus far.

Phoenix is often praised for being a method actor, which means he certainly has the potential to extensively commit himself to the role as past Jokers have done. Ledger reportedly locked himself in a hotel room for a month to really enter the mental travesty the Joker holds. Leto pulled pranks on his co-stars by sending them creepy objects like live rats, bullets and a dead hog.

Seeing how a proclaimed actor like Phoenix will invest into the deranged psychology of the Joker while embracing the dark tone that the film is aiming for, fan’s excitement will only continue to grow.

The film simply titled “Joker” will be set in the 1980s and is a stand-alone film that will focus on the twisted, grim origin story of “The Clown Prince of Crime;” a completely separate project from Leto’s Joker that currently lives in the DC Extended Universe.

With that said, Phoenix and Warner Bros. Studio will essentially have limitless freedom to do as they please, considering there will be no pressure to include or reference other major characters like Batman, who also resides in the DCEU.

Having a solo film entirely devoted to the Joker’s ambiguous origin story offers a significant freshness to the superhero movie genre that has not been explored in major Hollywood projects before.